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Friday, January 31, 2020
Do You See Your Calling? by Oswald Chambers
The Hope for Peace by Charles Stanley
One day Christ will return and make everything right, and until that time believers are called to be His ambassadors of peace. But salvation doesn’t automatically change us into people of kindness and unity. At times we may be quick-tempered and impatient, struggling to live in harmony with others. What’s more, letting go of ingrained attitudes or habits can be difficult, even when clinging to such things causes hurt.
Thankfully, God knows this about us. That’s why He has sent His Holy Spirit to help us understand and apply Scripture, say no to temptation, and replace our priorities with Christ’s. Only He can produce spiritual fruit in us, which includes love, joy, and peace (Gal. 5:22-23). And with His help, we become peacemakers who work to bring about reconciliation between God and others (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). When our hearts are ruled by His peace, our relationships reflect His spirit of oneness (Col. 3:15).
The world may hope to find peace through man-made solutions, but you and I know the only source of lasting unity is Jesus Christ. Let’s pray that believers and nonbelievers alike witness the power of God that reconciles marriages, families, and churches.
Can you tune your life to this one note? by Adrian Rogers
Can you tune your life to this one note?
For this reason, I also suffer these things; nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day. 2 Timothy 1:12
I heard of a lady who had memorized so many verses of Scripture over time that she quoted them back to the Lord in praise to His name.
When she grew old and began to lose her memory, she could only remember one verse, our passage today: “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” She would quote it over and over.
Soon her memory deteriorated even more, and all she could remember was just the phrase “committed unto Him.” It brought her much comfort. Finally she came to a place where all she could say was “Him.”
You can distill the Bible down to that one word, “Him.” Can you tune all of your life to that one note of praise? Him.
Watch Your Heart by Greg Laurie
Watch Your Heart
Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12 nlt)
Sometimes some of the worst sinners are people raised in Christian homes, because they rebel against it. On the other hand, sometimes some of the greatest saints come from Christian homes. It just depends on the person.
We love to put all the blame on the parents. But we have a say about the direction we take in life, regardless of how we were raised (or not raised). In reality, we need to have our own faith. We can’t live off the faith of someone else. We need our own relationship with Jesus Christ.
Actually, one of the easiest places our hearts can become hardened to the gospel is in the church. As we hear the truth of the gospel, as we hear the truth of God’s Word, we decide whether we’ll be responsive or resistant to it.
The same sun that softens the wax hardens the clay. Let’s take the pharaoh of Egypt for example. Moses went to him and demanded that he release the Hebrews from captivity. Then Pharaoh watched miracle after miracle that Moses performed by the power of God. Yet Pharaoh hardened his heart again and again.
But then we read that the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Is it a contradiction? No, it’s two sides of the same coin. Pharaoh was the one who decided to harden his heart in the presence of God. We could translate that word hardened as “strengthened.” In other words, the Lord strengthened Pharaoh in the decision he already made. God simply confirmed Pharaoh in his choice.
Pharaoh dedicated himself to evil in direct opposition to God’s redemptive plan. He chose evil; God did not choose it for him. In fact, God offered him opportunity after opportunity to repent, but he decided not to.
Yes, hearts can become hard, even in church. So be careful.
January 31 / Streams in the Desert
He giveth quietness (Job 34:29).
Quietness amid the dash of the storm. We sail the lake with Him still; and as we reach its middle waters, far from land, under midnight skies, suddenly a great storm sweeps down. Earth and hell seem arrayed against us, and each billow threatens to overwhelm. Then He arises from His sleep, and rebukes the winds and the waves; His hand waves benediction and repose over the rage of the tempestuous elements. His voice is heard above the scream of the wind in the cordage and the conflict of the billows, "Peace, be still!" Can you not hear it? And there is instantly a great calm. "He giveth quietness." Quietness amid the loss of inward consolations. He sometimes withdraws these, because we make too much of them. We are tempted to look at our joy, our ecstasies, our transports, or our visions, with too great complacency. Then love for love's sake, withdraws them. But, by His grace, He leads us to distinguish between them and Himself. He draws nigh, and whispers the assurance of His presence. Thus an infinite calm comes to keep our heart and mind. "He giveth quietness."
"He giveth quietness." O Elder Brother,
Whose homeless feet have pressed our path of pain,
Whose hands have borne the burden of our sorrow,
That in our losses we might find our gain.
Of all Thy gifts and infinite consolings,
I ask but this: in every troubled hour
To hear Thy voice through all the tumults stealing,
And rest serene beneath its tranquil power.
Cares cannot fret me if my soul be dwelling
In the still air of faith's untroubled day;
Grief cannot shake me if I walk beside thee,
My hand in Thine along the darkening way.
Content to know there comes a radiant morning
When from all shadows I shall find release,
Serene to wait the rapture of its dawning--
Who can make trouble when Thou sendest peace?
Whose homeless feet have pressed our path of pain,
Whose hands have borne the burden of our sorrow,
That in our losses we might find our gain.
Of all Thy gifts and infinite consolings,
I ask but this: in every troubled hour
To hear Thy voice through all the tumults stealing,
And rest serene beneath its tranquil power.
Cares cannot fret me if my soul be dwelling
In the still air of faith's untroubled day;
Grief cannot shake me if I walk beside thee,
My hand in Thine along the darkening way.
Content to know there comes a radiant morning
When from all shadows I shall find release,
Serene to wait the rapture of its dawning--
Who can make trouble when Thou sendest peace?
Going, Going, Gone by Mike Wittmer
Going, Going, Gone
The mischievous artist Banksy pulled off another practical joke. His painting Girl with Balloon sold for one million pounds at Sotheby’s auction house in London. Moments after the auctioneer yelled “Sold,” an alarm sounded and the painting slipped halfway through a shredder mounted inside the bottom of the frame. Banksy tweeted a picture of bidders gasping at his ruined masterpiece, with the caption, “Going, going, gone.”
Banksy relished pulling one over on the wealthy, but he need not have bothered. Wealth itself has plenty of pranks up its sleeve. God says, “Do not wear yourself out to get rich . . . . Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle” (Proverbs 23:4–5).
Few things are less secure than money. We work hard to earn it, yet there are many ways to lose it. Investments go sour, inflation erodes, bills come, thieves steal, and fire and flood destroy. Even if we manage to keep our money, the time we have to spend it continually flies. Blink, and your life is going, going, gone.
What to do? God tells us a few verses later: “always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off” (vv. 17–18). Invest your life in Jesus; He alone will keep you forever.
Banksy relished pulling one over on the wealthy, but he need not have bothered. Wealth itself has plenty of pranks up its sleeve. God says, “Do not wear yourself out to get rich . . . . Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle” (Proverbs 23:4–5).
Few things are less secure than money. We work hard to earn it, yet there are many ways to lose it. Investments go sour, inflation erodes, bills come, thieves steal, and fire and flood destroy. Even if we manage to keep our money, the time we have to spend it continually flies. Blink, and your life is going, going, gone.
What to do? God tells us a few verses later: “always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off” (vv. 17–18). Invest your life in Jesus; He alone will keep you forever.
Where does your life feel insecure? How might that lead you to Jesus?
God, help me to give my insecurities to You and to trust in Your goodness and faithfulness.
He Can Use Anyone by Billy Graham
He Can Use Anyone
Helen Keller, who is a classic example of handling life’s handicaps, said, “I thank God for my handicaps, for through them I have found myself, my work, and my God.” Some people with handicaps drown themselves in self-pity, and thus limit their usefulness and service to mankind and to God. The Apostle Paul knew the pangs of suffering. He used his infirmity rather than allowing his infirmity to use him, and he used it for the glory of God. He seized everything, even death, to glorify his Lord. No matter which way fate turned, he was one jump ahead of it, and using it to magnify his Savior.
Daily Prayer
Even my handicaps can be used by You, Lord Jesus. Like the Apostle Paul, let me rise above them for Your glory.
“For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.”
Philippians 1:21 NLT
The Pace of Your Spiritual Journey by Alistair Begg
The Pace of Your Spiritual Journey
Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and outran the Cushite.2 Samuel 18:23
Running is not everything. There is much in the way that we select: A swift foot over hill and down dale will not keep pace with a slower traveler upon level ground. How is it with my spiritual journey? Am I laboring up the hill of my own works and down into the ravines of my own humiliations and resolutions, or do I run by the plain way of "Believe and live"?
How blessed is it to wait upon the Lord by faith! The soul runs without weariness and walks without fainting in the way of believing. Christ Jesus is the way of life, and He is a plain way, a pleasant way, a way suitable for the tottering feet and feeble knees of trembling sinners. Am I found in this way, or am I hunting after another track such as priestcraft or metaphysics may promise me?
I read of the way of holiness, that the wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein. Have I been delivered from proud reason and been brought as a little child to rest in Jesus' love and blood? If so, by God's grace I shall outrun the strongest runner who chooses any other path.
This truth I may remember to my profit in my daily cares and needs. It will be my wisest course to go at once to my God, and not to wander in a roundabout manner to this friend and that. He knows my wants and can relieve them. To whom should I repair but to Himself by the direct appeal of prayer and the plain argument of the promise? "Straightforward makes the best runner." I will not parley with the servants but hasten to their master.
In reading this passage, it strikes me that if men vie with each other in common matters, and one outruns the other, I ought to be in solemn earnestness so to run that I may obtain. Lord, help me to gird up the loins of my mind, and may I press forward toward the mark for the prize of my high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
VIOLENCE / Draw Near Bible App
VIOLENCE
Every sixty-eight seconds between 1820 and 1945, a man died at the hands of a fellowman as a result of violence. Six hundred years before Christ, Ezekiel said: For the land is filled with crimes of blood, And the city is full of violence (Ezekiel 7:23). The scene has not changed much since then. While 200,000 scientists and engineers are working in military-related jobs, only a handful are working to stop the violence in our land.
The problem of violence has been with us since Cain killed Abel. By all logic, we should be able to control the passions that spill over into violence. Even in our modern society, however, we seem helpless in the face of the killer instinct. The Bible says violence is a result of sin; and as long as man refuses to repent, we will reap the whirlwind.
Although the situation is discouraging, there will come a day when all the scores are settled. James told of the time when those who have used power to harm their fellows will be judged sternly. These acts of violence never go unnoticed; and while man may escape punishment here, there will be a judgment day. In our violent society, may we pray for the coming of Christ, Who will once and for all abolish violence with His rule of love and peace.
Every sixty-eight seconds between 1820 and 1945, a man died at the hands of a fellowman as a result of violence. Six hundred years before Christ, Ezekiel said: For the land is filled with crimes of blood, And the city is full of violence (Ezekiel 7:23). The scene has not changed much since then. While 200,000 scientists and engineers are working in military-related jobs, only a handful are working to stop the violence in our land.
The problem of violence has been with us since Cain killed Abel. By all logic, we should be able to control the passions that spill over into violence. Even in our modern society, however, we seem helpless in the face of the killer instinct. The Bible says violence is a result of sin; and as long as man refuses to repent, we will reap the whirlwind.
Although the situation is discouraging, there will come a day when all the scores are settled. James told of the time when those who have used power to harm their fellows will be judged sternly. These acts of violence never go unnoticed; and while man may escape punishment here, there will be a judgment day. In our violent society, may we pray for the coming of Christ, Who will once and for all abolish violence with His rule of love and peace.
“You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you.”
James 5:6 NLT
The Incredible Value of What God’s Given You / Senior Living
The Incredible Value of What God’s Given You
However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him. - 1 Corinthians 2:9
When the Western Union company asked the great inventor Thomas Edison to “name his price” for the ticker he had invented, Edison asked for a few days to think it over. His wife suggested he ask for $20,000, but Edison thought that was too much.
So when the time came for the meeting, the Western Union official asked Edison for his price. Edison wanted to say $20,000, but couldn’t get the words out of his mouth. So the official broke the silence. “Well, how about $100,000?”
It’s sometimes easy to undervalue things that haven’t come to full fruition yet. Edison hadn’t really seen the full potential of his world-changing invention, so he wasn’t aware of its incredible value. The same is often true of salvation. You see, no living person has seen what God has prepared for those who love Him, but its true value is beyond what anyone could imagine.
As a believer, what you have in Jesus Christ is the most valuable thing in the world. Yet there are still those who take it for granted, using it as license to live as they please. But a Christian who knows its value will live every day in thankfulness to the glory of God.
Live today in light of your salvation, giving thanks to God and doing everything to bring honor to Him!
Prayer Challenge
Thank God for His saving work in you and pray your life would bring glory to Him!
Questions for Thought
What are some times in your life when you might have taken God’s salvation for granted?
What would it look like for you to live each day in thankfulness, bringing honor and glory to Him?
January 31 / Wisdom from the Psalms
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Robbing God by David Jeremiah
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Thursday, January 30, 2020
The Dilemma of Obedience by Oswald Chambers
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God’s Warning About Relationships by Charles Stanley
You and I should be intentional about how we relate to non-Christians. With different beliefs and values, they may lead us astray whether they mean to or not.
Paul wrote about this dilemma. He asked the Corinthians to consider what the following have in common: righteousness and wickedness; light and darkness; Christ and Satan (2 Corinthians 6:14-15). The answer is: Nothing. His point is that believers and unbelievers value different things, and this can be tricky to navigate, especially when it comes to…
Marriage. 1 Corinthians 7:13 instructs that the believer is to remain married and be a sweet fragrance of Christ in the home.
Business. There’s no guarantee a partnership between a Christian and non-Christian will go sour. But with different priorities and perspectives, disagreements can be anticipated. Regardless, the believer should be Christlike in everything.
Organizations. Be skeptical if an association opposes Christ’s name or if a church fails to see the need for a personal relationship with Jesus.
God designed relationships for our support and encouragement, so it’s critical for the people we associate with most closely to value Him above all else.
Strengthening Weak Knees by Linda Washington
Strengthening Weak Knees
When I was a kid, I thought the song title “He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need,” written by Dottie Rambo in 1967, was “He Looked Beyond My Faults and Saw My Knees.” Employing the logic of a child, I wondered why God would look at knees. Was it because they were weak? I knew that weak-kneed meant “afraid.” I later discovered that Dottie had written the song about God’s unconditional love in response to her brother Eddie’s belief that he was unlovable because of the wrong things he’d done. Dottie assured him that God saw his weakness but loved him anyway.
God’s unconditional love is apparent throughout the many weak-kneed moments of the people of Israel and Judah. He sent prophets like Isaiah with messages for His wayward people. In Isaiah 35, the prophet shares the hope of God’s restoration. The encouragement that would come as a result of embracing hope would “strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way” (v. 3). Through the encouragement they received, God’s people would in turn be able to encourage others. This is why Isaiah instructs in verse 4, “Say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear.’ ”
Feeling weak-kneed? Talk to your heavenly Father. He strengthens weak knees through the truth of the Scriptures and the power of His presence. You’ll then be able to encourage others.
God’s unconditional love is apparent throughout the many weak-kneed moments of the people of Israel and Judah. He sent prophets like Isaiah with messages for His wayward people. In Isaiah 35, the prophet shares the hope of God’s restoration. The encouragement that would come as a result of embracing hope would “strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way” (v. 3). Through the encouragement they received, God’s people would in turn be able to encourage others. This is why Isaiah instructs in verse 4, “Say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear.’ ”
Feeling weak-kneed? Talk to your heavenly Father. He strengthens weak knees through the truth of the Scriptures and the power of His presence. You’ll then be able to encourage others.
What are some of the ways you’ve been encouraged recently? How will you encourage someone who’s facing hard times?
Father, I need Your strength and Your grace today.
Too Old to Serve God? by Adrian Rogers
Too Old to Serve God?
Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16
So many people think they can’t do much for the Lord as they enter their twilight years. God doesn’t change just because your health may take a turn or you feel weaker. The faith that is inside of you has not weakened, unless you stop feeding it with works of faith. The things God calls us to do in life do not hinge upon our physical stamina or financial strength.
Do you know where one of the great strengths of a church lies? In its seniors—older, mature believers who have walked with God for years. With their reservoir of wisdom and fortress of faith, they get hold of God, and though their bodies are wearing a bit, they are as strong as they ever were—because God is their strength.
Douglas MacArthur once said, “You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubts, as young as yourself with confidence, as old as your fears, as young as your hope, as old as your despair.” God gives unfading strength for His undiminishing promises.
Latch onto the truth in this verse and let it become the hallmark of your later years: “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Proverbs 4:18
Use Your Time Wisely by Billy Graham
Use Your Time Wisely
Nothing takes God by surprise. Everything is moving according to a plan; and God wants you in that plan. The devil also has a plan for the world. God has a plan and the devil has a plan, and you will have to decide which plan you are going to fit into. Scripture says that God allows us 70 years and some beyond. The first 15 are spent in childhood and early adolescence. Twenty years are spent in bed; and in the last five, physical limitations start to curtail our activities. That gives us about 30 years in which to live as adults. We take time out for eating, and for figuring our taxes, and we are down to perhaps 15 years. Now suppose we spend seven of those years watching television. That cuts us down to seven or eight years. Our time is short! The time we can invest for God, in creative things, in reaching our fellowmen for Christ, is short!
Daily Prayer
Each hour of every day that is left of this earthly life, I would spend serving You, Lord Jesus. Forgive the time spent so often in needless endeavor.
“How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.”
James 4:14 NLT
WHAT CAN I DO? / Draw Near Bible App
WHAT CAN I DO?
During a hard energy crisis, we seemed so helpless. Then the New York Daily News showed how each of us could save energy: "One less hour a day of color TV saves a fourth barrel of oil a year. One less washing machine load saves a half barrel. One less clothes dryer load saves a third barrel. Using the dishwasher once for every two present uses saves three and a half barrels, while using the air conditioner one less hour from May through September saves a half barrel." There was something we could do.
James tells the believer some things he can do to make his life more like Christ's. While Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith, there are practical steps we can take to be more aware of His working and more suitable to His service. James suggests, for example, that we draw near to God so that He will draw near to us.
James adds that we should not speak evil of one another or say arrogantly that we will do as we please. We are in God's hands, not ours. We are to do good because to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17). With such a list, we have a lot to work on today in our lives. There is something we can do, and may we do it.
During a hard energy crisis, we seemed so helpless. Then the New York Daily News showed how each of us could save energy: "One less hour a day of color TV saves a fourth barrel of oil a year. One less washing machine load saves a half barrel. One less clothes dryer load saves a third barrel. Using the dishwasher once for every two present uses saves three and a half barrels, while using the air conditioner one less hour from May through September saves a half barrel." There was something we could do.
James tells the believer some things he can do to make his life more like Christ's. While Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith, there are practical steps we can take to be more aware of His working and more suitable to His service. James suggests, for example, that we draw near to God so that He will draw near to us.
James adds that we should not speak evil of one another or say arrogantly that we will do as we please. We are in God's hands, not ours. We are to do good because to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17). With such a list, we have a lot to work on today in our lives. There is something we can do, and may we do it.
“Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”
James 4:8 NLT
January 30 / Streams in the Desert
The dew is a source of freshness. It is nature's provision for renewing the face of the earth. It falls at night, and without it the vegetation would die. It is this great value of the dew which is so often recognized in the Scriptures. It is used as the symbol of spiritual refreshing. Just as nature is bathed in dew, so the Lord renews His people. In Titus 3:5 the same thought of spiritual refreshing is connected with the ministry of the Holy Ghost--"renewing of the Holy Ghost."
Many Christian workers do not recognize the importance of the heavenly dew in their lives, and as a result they lack freshness and vigor. Their spirits are drooping for lack of dew.
Beloved fellow-worker, you recognize the folly of a laboring man attempting to do his day's work without eating. Do you recognize the folly of a servant of God attempting to minister without eating of the heavenly manna? Nor will it suffice to have spiritual nourishment occasionally. Every day you must receive the renewing of the Holy Ghost. You know when your whole being is pulsating with the vigor and freshness of Divine life and when you feel jaded and worn. Quietness and absorption bring the dew. At night when the leaf and blade are still, the vegetable pores are open to receive the refreshing and invigorating bath; so spiritual dew comes from quiet lingering in the Master's presence. Get still before Him. Haste will prevent your receiving the dew. Wait before God until you feel saturated with His presence; then go forth to your next duty with the conscious freshness and vigor of Christ.
--Dr. Pardington
--Dr. Pardington
Dew will never gather while there is either heat or wind. The temperature must fall, and the wind cease, and the air come to a point of coolness and rest--absolute rest, so to speak--before it can yield up its invisible particles of moisture to bedew either herb or flower. So the grace of God does not come forth to rest the soul of man until the still point is fairly and fully reached.
Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease:
Take from our souls the strain and stress;
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.
Breathe through the pulses of desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, its beats expire:
Speak through the earthquake, wind and fire,
O still small voice of calm!
Till all our strivings cease:
Take from our souls the strain and stress;
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.
Breathe through the pulses of desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, its beats expire:
Speak through the earthquake, wind and fire,
O still small voice of calm!
For Every Generation by Greg Laurie
For Every Generation
One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. (Psalm 145:4 nkjv)
When it comes to sharing the gospel, we tend to think of the down-and-outers. “Go to Skid Row and preach the gospel to them,” we think. “Go into the prisons. Go into the jails. Preach to those people. They need Jesus.”
Thank God that we are never so down or out that He won’t reach out and save us. But let’s remember that up-and-outers need Jesus too. The people who seem to have it all together on the outside need the Lord as well.
Every generation needs to hear the gospel. Every baby boomer needs to hear it, and every millennial needs to hear it. And Generation X needs to hear the gospel too.
On the heels of the millennials we now have Generation Z. Experts have described it as the loneliest generation. The challenges and pressureddds that young people face today are, in many ways, unprecedented. And I think a lot of that has to do with social media.
I was an early adopter of smartphones and was very excited about them. But now I think they’re ruining our lives in so many ways. In fact, I believe they’re having a very detrimental effect on the lives of young people who live in a virtual world.
In this virtual world, they’re not able to communicate with one another. They converse through texting more than they communicate through face-to-face conversations. Maybe that is one reason anxiety and depression are so high among young people today. We’ve never been more connected and disconnected at the same time.
Every generation needs to hear the gospel. As the psalmist David wrote, “One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts” (Psalm 145:4 nkjv). Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. For every generation, the answer is Jesus.
Our Inheritance Through Christ by Alistair Begg
Our Inheritance Through Christ
In him we have obtained an inheritance.Ephesians 1:11
When Jesus gave Himself for us, He gave us all the rights and privileges that went with Himself; so now, although as eternal God He has essential rights to which no creature may venture to pretend, yet as Jesus, the Mediator, the federal Head of the covenant of grace, He has no heritage apart from us. All the glorious consequences of His obedience unto death are the joint riches of all who are in Him, and on whose behalf He accomplished the divine will.
See, He enters into glory, but not for Himself alone, for it is written, "Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf."1 Does He stand in the presence of God? Christ appears "in the presence of God on our behalf."2 Consider this, believer: You have no right to heaven in yourself; your right lies in Christ.
If you are pardoned, it is through His blood; if you are justified, it is through His righteousness; if you are sanctified, it is because He is made of God unto you sanctification; if you shall be kept from falling, it will be because you are preserved in Christ Jesus; and if you are perfected at the last, it will be because you are complete in Him. Thus Jesus is magnified—for all is in Him and by Him; thus the inheritance is made certain to us—for it is obtained in Him; thus each blessing is the sweeter, and even heaven itself the brighter, because it is Jesus our Beloved in whom we have obtained all.
Where is the man who shall estimate our divine portion? Weigh the riches of Christ in scales and His treasure in balances, and then think to count the treasures that belong to the saints. Reach the bottom of Christ's sea of joy, and then hope to understand the bliss that God has prepared for them that love Him. Overleap the boundaries of Christ's possessions, and then dream of a limit to the fair inheritance of the elect. "All are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's."3
How to Stay Calm in the Midst of Stress / Senior Living
How to Stay Calm in the Midst of Stress
A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel. - Proverbs 15:18
A story is told about a little league coach who pulled one of his young players aside and asked him, “Do you understand what cooperation is?” The boy nodded yes.
Then the coach asked, “Do you understand that what matters is that we win together or lose together as a team?” The little boy again nodded yes.
“So,” the coach continued, “when a strike is called or you’re out at first, you don’t argue or curse the umpire. Do you understand that?” Again, the little boy nodded.
“Good,” said the coach. “Now go over there and explain it to your mother.”
It happens, doesn’t it? In the heat of the moment, when emotions are flying and tempers are hot, it’s tempting to sometimes lose your patience and just unleash on whoever is around you. And what’s really interesting is that quite often, it doesn’t even matter what the issue is!
But God has a better plan for you when it comes to managing your temper. As today’s verse says, people who are patient and not easily angered don’t just benefit themselves; they calm others around them as well.
So when you’re tempted to lose it, ask God to give you the patience to react differently. When you do, you’ll notice that your overall stress level will decrease as you foster an environment of patience among those around you!
Prayer Challenge:
Pray and ask God to give you the strength to react calmly when stress hits and to foster an environment of patience with those around you.
January 30 / Wisdom from the Psalms
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Rich and Poor by David Jeremiah
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Your Life Is a Gospel Witness By Erwin Lutzer
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Monday, May 14 Undergirded Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to ...
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DAILY DEVOTIONAL MAY 14, 2018 Jesus' Nature He will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom. Isaiah 4...
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And he saw them toiling in rowing (Mark 6:48 ). Straining, driving effort does not accomplish the work God gives man to do. Only God Hi...
